E-sports: An ally to online casinos or a source of decline?

June 26, 2018

Over the last decade, the concept of professional video games, better known as e-sports, has spread all over the world. In South Korea, we also like to venerate geeks goggles specialists in the controller or keyboard as real idols. And at a time when furious confrontations over games like League of Legends or Dota 2 are invading streaming sites like Twitch, online casino operators are wondering if they’re missing out of something. In the United States, the United Kingdom (visit website) and the industrialized Asian countries, we are really talking about this! So, e-sport, more than just a phenomenon, can it become an ally for players in the iGaming market? Or is it perhaps the trigger for their decline?

E-sport is already raising the stakes

Those of you who are sceptical and think that e-sports have no place in the iGaming market, you are unfortunately wrong – yes, sorry to contradict you. Indeed, there are already a dozen sites offering bets on eSports competitions. This is not surprising in itself when we know that some British bookmakers are already having fun predicting the names of the future monarchs of the kingdom, even the winners of the great reality show of the moment. Because of this, why should e-sport be any different? The explosion of online gambling on smartphones and tablets has enabled a new generation of gamers to see the light of day. The latter, not disinterested by online casinos, but rely their money on topics that really passionate them. E-sport, which belongs to the web culture, is one of them.

Although its good taste is sometimes the subject of discussion, the web culture is the main playground of adventurous advertisers. Online casino executives, who have made the internet their garden, are watching the advent of e-sports with mixed eyes. Operators who offer three-in-one (casino, poker, sports betting) platforms are aware of the many opportunities that can offer them games such as Heroes of the Storm or Hearthstone. On the other hand, actors who are more specialized – or who can only offer one type of game on their site for financial reasons – may well fall through the trap. The only way for them to continue to exist is to offer a multidisciplinary, intergenerational content that meets the needs of all types of players.

Of course, do not mix cabbage and carrots. E-sport remains a practice that is difficult to affiliate with that of iGaming. In addition, online casinos are not yet ready to know the route. However, a bit like the poker boom that benefited many operators in the mid-2000s, e-sports could turn mainstream; it is likely that it is the new phenomenon to follow, especially since it is for the moment extremely localized geographically and demographically. A bright future opens up to it. A lot of debates have been raised on a possible incorporation of e-sport into iGaming, as the latter is estimated for about $1.2 billion for 2020.

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